Establishments, organizations, or individuals that serve large volumes of beer to guests or customers find it most convenient and economical to serve beer from pressurized metal kegs. Half, quarter and one-eighth kegs of beer (hereinafter collectively referred to as xe2x80x9ckegsxe2x80x9d) are widely available from distributors and retailers. Beer packaged in kegs can be purchased and dispensed at a fraction of the cost of canned or bottled beer. In addition, many people prefer the taste and experience of drinking draught beer served from a keg into a glass.
Beer is dispensed from these kegs by first pressurizing the keg with a manual air pump or by introducing pressurized CO2 into the keg from a canister, and then drawing the beer from the keg through a spout. Various systems are well known in the art for dispensing beer from a keg in this manner.
Special electric refrigerators are commercially available for chilling and serving beer from kegs at a desired temperature. These so-called xe2x80x9ckegeratorsxe2x80x9d include an insulated enclosure sized to receive a of beer, an electric refrigeration unit, a CO2 canister and regulator for pressurizing the keg, and a tap for drawing beer from the keg. These units also typically include an adjustable thermostat for regulating the temperature of the beer in the keg at a desired temperature. While these units are effective for serving beer from a keg at a desired temperature, they have several shortcomings. First, the electrical refrigeration equipment makes these units very heavy and difficult to move long distances or over rough terrain, even when casters are provided on the bases of the units. Second, these units require electricity, and their electrical cords must be plugged into an accessable outlet. Accordingly, if it is desired to serve beer outdoors such as on a golf course, the electrical keg server must be located near an outdoor electrical outlet. Alternatively, hazardous extension cords must be used. Therefore, if it is desired to serve beer from a keg at a location without an available source of electricity or that is distant from the closest available electrical outlet, these units are not preferable. Thus, there is a need for a keg server which does not require electricity or electrical cords, and is also highly portable.
Others have addressed this need by placing a pre-chilled keg in a tub of ice. While this popular approach reduces the portability problems associated with electric keg servers, the ice melts, causing problems of spillage, sanitation and other untoward effects. Emptying kegs have even been known to float on the meltwater. Others have developed more sophisticated keg servers that also employ bulk ice to chill a keg""s contents. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,010,043 to Williamson et al. discloses a portable draw box for dispensing beer from one or two kegs in the draw box. The beer in the keg(s) is maintained at a chilled temperature by surrounding the base of the keg(s) with bulk ice in a first cooling well on the inside bottom of an enclosure containing the keg(s). The beer is additionally cooled when served by directing the beer drawn from the keg through a cold plate located in a second cooling well that is also packed with ice. The use of ice in this manner also introduces the need to deal with the melt-water from the ice.
Therefore, there is a need for a portable keg server that dispenses beer or another beverage from of a pre-chilled keg without ice or electricity.
The present invention meets this need by providing a keg server including an insulated enclosure including sidewalls, a top, and a bottom defining a volume within the enclosure, a dispensing spout outside of the enclosure and having a tap adapted for connection to a keg containing a beverage in the enclosure; and one or more removable chiller panels in the volume in the enclosure near one or more of the sidewalls, top, and bottom, so as to leave an air space in the volume between the keg and the chiller panels, so that the beverage is maintained at a temperature below an ambient temperature and greater than the freezing point of water.
The invention also provides an apparatus for serving a chilled beverage from a keg including an insulated housing having racks inside the housing spaced from one another sufficiently to permit a keg to be located in the housing between the racks, a spout on the housing adapted for connection to a keg in the housing to provide discharge of the keg contents through the spout, and a plurality of chiller panels containing a freezable liquid and adapted to be removeably mounted on the racks in the housing so that the panels may be frozen in a freezer and loaded into the racks on opposite sides of a keg in the housing to keep the keg and its contents cold.
In one embodiment the housing is mounted on casters to permit mobility of the apparatus. The housing may have an outside that includes channels to receive selectively replaceable graphic material. The housing may have a pressurized gas canister adapted for connection to a keg in the housing to urge discharge of the keg contents through the spout.
Preferably, the racks are far enough apart to avoid touching a keg in the housing to prevent over-chilling of the keg. The housing may include two opposed side walls and a door between the side walls, with the support racks mounted on the side walls to form slidable grooves exposed to permit insertion and removal of the chiller panels when the door is open. The racks may each include support for two thicknesses of chiller panels. The racks may be provided to provide upper and lower courses of chiller panels.
In one embodiment, the door is hinged to one of the side walls. Preferably, the door has magnetic seals to keep the door closed. A lock may also be provided to inhibit unauthorized access to the interior of the housing.
The invention also provides a method of serving a chilled beverage including freezing a plurality of chiller panels, loading the chiller panels horizontally into an insulated housing, loading a keg of beverage to be served into the housing between the chiller panels and connecting the keg to a discharge spout, closing the housing, and dispensing chilled beverage through the spout.
The method may include moving the housing with contained keg and chiller panels on casters. It may also include installing graphic material in channels on the outside of the housing. The method may include connecting a pressurized gas canister in the housing to the keg in the housing to urge discharge of the keg contents through the spout. The loading of the chiller panels may include sliding the panels on racks mounted on two opposed side walls in the housing when a door to the housing is open. Loading may also include loading two thicknesses of chiller panels on each sidewall. Loading may include loading upper and lower courses of chiller panels.
The invention also provides a method of dispensing beverages at an event venue including freezing a first plurality of chiller panels at a freezer, cooling a second plurality of beverage kegs, locating keg servers at locations at the event venue, delivering and installing cooled beverage kegs to the keg servers, delivering and installing frozen chiller panels to the keg servers, and dispensing beverage from the kegs at the respective keg servers located at locations of the event venue. The method may include replacing chiller panels in the keg servers with freshly frozen chiller panels.
In one advantageous embodiment the event venue is a golf course and the locations of the event venue are selected holes of the golf course. Delivering frozen chiller panels may include transporting the chiller panels on golf carts.
The invention also provides a method of distributing beverages including freezing a plurality of chiller panels at a freezer, cooling a beverage keg, delivering a cooled beverage keg and keg server to a consumer and charging the consumer for the delivered keg and keg server, permitting the consumer to dispense beverage from the keg at the keg server without ice or electricity, and retrieving the keg and keg server when the keg is depleted.